MobilePay: Take your business to the next level with mobile payments

MobilePay makes life easier for private individuals, who use the app to pitch in for office gifts and pay for flea market treasures. But the app has also become a strategic tool for companies in their search for better user experiences and new business models.

Interview with Michael Schmidt Barsøe, Head of Mobile Payments at Danske Bank and Peter Gregersen, Lead User Experience Specialist at MobilePay.

In Denmark, MobilePay has become virtually synonymous with mobile payments, in the same way Google means internet searches and Kleenex means tissues. Over 3.5 million Danes have this easy-to-use payment app in their pockets. This wide distribution gives companies new opportunities: mobile payments can drive increased digitisation, better user experiences and new business models.

Today, over 45,000 Danish companies accept payment with MobilePay, and more are on the way. Because when it comes to digitisation strategies and new business models, mobile payment is a hot topic in the corner office. And rightly so, according to Michael Schmidt Barsøe, Head of Mobile Payments at Danske Bank:

“Mobile payment isn’t just a question of getting a new kind of transaction. It’s a means of improving your business, creating better user experiences and preparing yourself to become the winner of tomorrow.”

Easier payment brings in new customers

Previously, payment was often viewed as a necessary evil for the customer. But mobile payment can play a positive role, as it can help a business stand out from the pack and create more value for both users and companies.

“It makes different kinds of customer experiences and new user flows possible, and the simple interaction via the mobile phone can be decisive for landing new customers,” explains Barsøe.

“If I can save 500 kroner a year with just a few clicks, I’m more likely to make the purchase,” says the Head of Mobile Payments.

But there are many other advantages to thinking mobile payments into the customer journey. Because in addition to giving customers a fast, simple method of payment, mobile payments can be a source of valuable information.

“It improves your ability to map your customers’ consumption patterns. What they do, and why they do it,” says Barsøe.

When a customer completes a transaction using a service like MobilePay, it becomes easier for a company to store a flow of information than is the case with traditional payment solutions – information which can be used to tailor services or products to particular users. In the words of Peter Gregersen, Lead User Experience Specialist at MobilePay:

“Mobile payments open up new possibilities, because the payment solution you use knows something about you, and you give your consent to put those data in play.”

For example, this might mean that the customer avoids having to enter their name, address or preferred method of delivery when making online purchases – this information is already contained in the app. As a result, the transaction is faster and simpler, which increases the likelihood that the customer will make a purchase. Mobile payments bring customers closer to ‘one click purchasing’.But making the customer journey as short as possible is one thing. It’s something else entirely to convince users that mobile payments are secure. Because even though MobilePay transactions are extremely secure, overly simple user interfaces can give users the opposite impression. Gregersen explains:

“It’s an art to incorporate just enough friction to make the product feel secure and credible while sending users through quickly. This is an issue we’re really focussing on.”

Inventing new business models

MobilePay is a hit for transfers between private individuals. But companies have yet to crack the code that will allow them to exploit the enormous untapped potential in the millions of Danish smartphones with MobilePay.

“There’s fertile ground for inventing new business models. For example the way newspapers collect payment for subscriptions, which involves bank giro credits and longer subscription periods today. But what if you want to buy a single article instead of an entire newspaper? Today, everyone in Denmark would be able to buy online articles with just a few clicks,” says UX specialist Gregersen.

Another example of how mobile payments can create new business opportunities is the collaboration between MobilePay and Scanomat, a Danish automated coffee machine manufacturer. The two companies have developed a joint app solution which lets you order and pay for your favorite coffee – without interacting with a barista. In short: the reinvention of the café.

The future of MobilePay and mobile payments

Even though lots of creative applications for MobilePay have already been developed, we will be seeing even more innovative ways of using mobile payments in the future. Specifically, MobilePay is working to make the app more intelligent. Gregersen explains:

“MobilePay has to understand the user better to meet the user’s needs. The goal is for the app to become a personal assistant who helps you make payments even easier.”

At the same time, mobile payments can become an important element in the apps and digital interactions of the future, when your surroundings will have a greater influence on the possibilities your phone offers you. According to Barsøe, this development will harmonize well with MobilePay:

“In the future, you’ll be able to sit at a café, connect to WiFi, order from the menu and pay immediately – all from your mobile phone.”

MobilePay

Danske Bank launched MobilePay in 2013. Today, MobilePay is an independent business unit which enters into partnerships with a variety of other banks. MobilePay’s ambition is to offer users and companies a mobile payment platform which is widely used, user-friendly and focussed on constant innovation.

In figures:

Over 3.5 million Danes have downloaded MobilePay.

The second quarter of 2017 looks set to break a new record for MobilePay, with 60 million transactions completed using the app.

The forecast for 2017 is over 220 million transactions – or 60 billion kroner transferred via the app.

39% of users consider MobilePay their most indispensable app.

Who's who:

Name: Michael Schmidt Barsøe

Age:47

Title: Head of Mobile Payments, Danske Bank

Edu.: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (HD) in sales from University of Southern DenmarkCertified in International Cash Management through ACT

Name: Peter Gregersen

Age:37

Title: Senior User Experience Specialist, MobilePay

Edu.: Master’s degree in Information Studies and Business Economics, Aarhus University